US asked to relax travel advisory

Published March 17, 2004

ISLAMABAD, March 16: Commerce Minister, Humayun Akhtar Khan has urged the United States to tone down the travel advisory which discourages buyers from visiting Pakistan.

The minister made this suggestion while speaking at a meeting with US-Pakistan Business Council delegation led by Ahmet Bozer, President Eurasia and the Middle East Division of Coca- Cola here on Tuesday.

Ashley Wills, Assistant United States Trade Representative (USTR) also participated in the meeting as the sole representative from Washington. Herbert Davis and Ms. Esperanza Gomez represented the US Chamber of Commerce.

The minister expressed his concern over the travel advisory issued by the US Trade Department from time to time, which discouraged the US investors to visit Pakistan. He emphasized the need to tone it down, as reality about Pakistan was much better than its perception.

Replying to a question regarding Intellectual Property Rights, he said that Pakistan was mindful of its responsibilities in this area and despite capacity constraints was taking various steps to tackle that problem.

He said that the most important step in this regard was a government decision to set up a specialised agency in the form of Pakistan Intellectual Property Rights Organization (PIPRO).

The representatives of the US Business Companies showed their keen interest in investing in various sectors in Pakistan including IT, Communication, pharmaceuticals, service industry, automobile sector, insurance, agriculture, etc.

They were of the view that they could bring investment of billions of dollars to Pakistan, creating thousands of job opportunities in the country. The delegation comprised the representatives of the leading US Business Companies, namely, Coca-Cola, Touchstone Communication, Delta Matrix, Motorola, Net Sol Technologies, Sweet water Intl, Oracle Corporation, Ledtronics, General Electric, Telnia Corporation, Synergics Energy Development, Merck & Co. and lights of America.

The Executive Mission is on a fact-finding and orientation visit to Pakistan to learn about the investment environment, the market and to familiarize itself with laws of the country. They will ascertain the extent to which the Pakistan economy is open to foreign business.

During the meeting, Mr. Khan informed the delegation of the efforts Pakistan was making to liberalize and deregulate the economy and apprised them of the liberal investment environment and fiscal and other incentives available for investing in Pakistan.

He assured them that Pakistan was interested in maintaining an investment friendly atmosphere and would look into any legitimate problems being faced by foreign companies with a view to resolving them to the satisfaction of all concerned.

The minister expressed his keenness to have close commercial relations with the US, which he termed necessary for Pakistan's continued economic growth, up gradation of industry and integration with the world economy." A new paradigm for bilateral commercial relations is in the mutual interest of Pakistan and the US," Mr. Khan added and Mr Ashley agreed.

Mr Ashley appreciated the role of Pakistan in WTO and said that his country would like to work with Pakistan to further the Doha Development Agenda. The US-Pakistan Business Council was constituted on September 30, 2002 in Washington.

The counterpart organization in Pakistan is the Pakistan-US Business Council located at the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry. US-Pakistan Business Council membership has grown to fourteen companies.

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